Matt Duchene skates with team but won’t play in Game 5

Duchene has been out since damaging the MCL in his left knee when he ran into a teammate against San Jose on March 29.

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DENVER — Colorado Avalanche coach Patrick Roy says leading scorer Matt Duchene won’t play in Game 5 against Minnesota on Saturday night even after skating with the team in a morning practice.

Roy says he will know more about Duchene’s potential playing status Sunday.

Duchene has been out since damaging the MCL in his left knee when he ran into a teammate against San Jose on March 29. He’s been skating on his own all week, before joining the team Saturday hours before a pivotal game in a series tied at 2.

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Rookie Nathan MacKinnon says that knowing Duchene may return at some point is "definitely a huge momentum boost for us."

The Avs have struggled to score on Wild goaltender Darcy Kuemper. Duchene had 70 points in the regular season.